Modular bale accumulator

ABSTRACT

A bale accumulator includes a base module having a table for receiving a plurality of bales thereon, a bale transfer module for accumulating the bales received on the table into a parcel thereof, and a bale turning module for individually turning each bale received on the table through substantially 90° about its longitudinal axis. The bale transfer and the bale turning modules are independently attachable to and detachable from the base module. The accumulator may also comprise a bale dumping module for dumping the parcel of bales accumulated on the table and an extension module for extending the width dimension of the table. The bale dumping module and the extension module are attachable to and detachable from the base module independently of the bale transfer and bale turning modules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to agricultural bale accumulators which aredevices trailed behind mobile agricultural crop balers during the balingoperation thereof and which are operable to accumulate a plurality ofbales in side-by-side relationship and then dump or discharge the givenparcel of bales on the ground for subsequent pick-up for transportationto another location.

The invention has been conceived with the so-called medium sized bale inmind which measures in the order of 0.6 m×0.9 m×1.2 to 2.4 m and weighs300 to 600 kg. However, it will be apparent from the description andclaims which follow that the invention is not limited to baleaccumulators for balers producing medium sized bales and can, in fact,be utilized with great effectiveness in conjunction with so-called largesquare balers producing bales of up to 1000 kg, as well as with small,conventional square balers.

Agricultural balers are in common use and operate to pick-up andcompress crop material, such as hay, straw, etc., into bales and wrapcompleted bales with wire or twine. Wrapped bales are ejectedperiodically from the bale chamber of a baler as the latter travels overthe field and each bale, on being ejected, normally is dischargeddirectly to the ground.

In order to make the overall baling and bale hauling operation moreefficient, it has already been proposed to provide a bale accumulatorwhich is arranged to receive successive bales as they are dischargedfrom a baler and to accumulate the bales into a group or parcel and thendischarge the parcel to the ground. A few examples of known baleaccumulators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,272,352; 4,310,275;4,215,964 and French Patent No. 1,471,621.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,352 discloses a bale accumulator which automaticallyaccumulates bales in predetermined parcels and then automaticallydischarges the parcels. In this arrangement, each parcel is made up ofbales standing on their ends in side-by-side relationship. Discharge ofa parcel of bales is accomplished by using the weight of the parcel totilt the floor of the accumulator. In this manner, the bales slide offin successive rows as the machine advances and are deposited, singlefashion, on the ground. However, the manner in which the bales aredeposited on the ground makes subsequent collection of the parcel ofbales by mechanical means difficult, if not impossible.

The aforementioned accumulator is used in conjunction with aconventional baler producing small rectangular bales and having a balechamber disposed generally to one side of the machine. The load bed uponwhich the bales are accumulated is disposed in offset relationship toone side of the bale chamber and yet this accumulator has a widthextending beyond both opposed sides of the baler as seen in afore-and-aft direction.

A similar bale accumulator for a baler having a bale chamber generallyto one side of the machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,275. Inoperation of this arrangement, bales are received in pairs on abale-receiving table which is generally aligned with the bale chamberand which is pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine for movementto a bale-transfer position to place successive bales on a load bedwhich again is disposed in a generally offset relationship to one sideof the bale chamber.

In the arrangements according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,272,352 and U.S. Pat.No. 4,310,275, the given width of the implement is not efficiently usedfor accumulating the maximum number of bales in side-by-siderelationship.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,964 discloses a different form of bale accumulatorin which the accumulator is placed symmetrically with respect to thebale chamber of the baler with bales issuing from the bale chamber firstbeing disposed to one side an then to the opposite side of theaccumulator on respective side platforms which are pivotable to dumppairs of bales collected thereon. The bales of a pair of balesaccumulated and dumped with this accumulator thus are dumped on theground at spaced apart locations and thus do not form a compact parceladapted for subsequent mechanical handling.

In all of the aforementioned bale accumulators, the load bed or table ispivotable to assume an inclined position for discharging the bales tothe ground under gravity. However, it is also known from French Pat. No.1,471,621 to provide a fixed load bed on an accumulator. A dischargeconveyor is provided on the floor of the load bed and is operable todischarge bales in a rearward direction after a tailgate has beenopened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, an agricultural bale accumulatorcomprises a base module having a table for receiving a plurality ofbales thereon, a bale transfer module for accumulating the balesreceived on the table into a parcel thereof, and a bale turning modulefor individually turning each bale received on the table throughsubstantially 90° about its longitudinal axis. The bale transfer moduleand the bale turning module are independently attachable to anddetachable from the base module. The accumulator may also comprise abale dumping module for dumping the parcel of bales accumulated on thetable and an extension module for extending the width dimension of thetable. The bale dumping module and the extension module are attachableto and detachable from the base module independently of the baletransfer and bale turning modules.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Bale accumulators constructed in accordance with the various aspects ofthe present invention will now be described in greater detail, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an accumulator according to theinvention and which is shown attached to an agricultural baler;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are schematic rear views of the accumulator andillustrating the modular construction thereof; each Figure showing adifferent combination of modules. The pattern or patterns of parcels ofbales accumulated with, and discharged across the field by theaccumulators formed by these various combinations is/are illustrated inFIGS. 2a, 3a and 4a;

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view, with portions left out for the sake ofclarity, of the accumulator combination as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the interaction of the hydrauliccontrols with the mechanical controls of the accumulator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a rear view similar to FIG. 2 but to a larger scale andillustrating with more details the bale-turning means 110 andbale-transfer means 210 of the accumulator according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along the lines VIII--VIII inFIG. 5 and illustrating the main sensor means 140;

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view to a larger scale of the portion of theaccumulator indicated at IX in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the lines X--X in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a partial sectional view, to a larger scale, of thecomponents indicated at XI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 12 is a partial end view taken in the direction of arrow XII inFIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a partial sectional view taken along the lines XIII--XIII ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 14 is a side view of the centralized mechanical control module 449of the accumulator according to the present invention;

FIGS. 15, and 17 to 19 are sectional views taken along the lines XV--XV,XVII--XVII, XVIII--XVIII and XIX, XIX in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a partial view taken in the direction of lines XVI--XVI inFIG. 15;

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram similar to FIG. 6 but illustrating analternative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 21 shows an alternative embodiment of the bale-turning means 110according to the invention; and

FIG. 22 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but illustrating a differentembodiment of the bale-dumping means according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The terms "forward", "rearward", "left" and "right" used in connectionwith the bale accumulator and/or components thereof are determined withreference to the direction of forward operative travel of the machineand should not be considered as limiting. Also the terms "upper" and"lower" are used principally throughout this specification forconvenience and it should be understood that these terms equally are notintended to be limiting.

Referring first to the FIGS. 1 to 5, the bale accumulator 1 is of amodular construction and comprises a base module 20 which is shownseparately in FIG. 3, an extension module 50 which is shown added to thebase module 20 in FIGS. 4 and 5, a bale-dumping module 301 which is partof a bale-discharge mechanism and which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, abale-turning module 101 which is shown in conjunction with the basemodule 20 and the extension module 50 in FIG. 2 and a bale-transfermodule 201 which is shown in conjunction with several combinations ofother modules in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4.

The base module 20 comprises a chassis 21 provided with a bale-receivingtable 23 and a pair of ground-engaging castor wheels 22. The accumulator1 is hitched or attached to an agricultural baler 2, which is partiallyshown in FIG. 1 of the drawings by a coupling device 10 comprising, onthe one hand, a ring or eye bolt 11 attached to the chassis 21 anddisposed to enter into a socket 13 coupled to the baler chassis and toreceive a coupling pin 14 therethough and, on the other hand, a pair oftransversely spaced apart tie rods 12 provided at opposite sides of saideye bolt 11. Each tie rod 12 is attached at its opposite ends to thebaler 2 and the accumulator chassis 21 by ball joints 15. In analternative arrangement only one such tie rod 12 is provided. With thisform of hitching or connection, the accumulator 1 cannot move in yawrelative to the baler 2 on the one hand while limited movement in thetwo other main directions is allowed on the other hand. Indeed, theaccumulator 1 and the baler 2 can move relative to each other to alimited degree in pitch about the ball joints 15 and the eye bolt 11 andin addition thereto the coupling device 10 allows the accumulator 1 andthe baler 2 to move relative to each other about a longitudinal,fore-and-aft axis of the two components. The inability of the baler 2and the accumulator 1 to move relative to each other in yaw requiresthat the two-ground-engaging wheels 22 of the accumulator 1 are castorwheels which are pivotable about generally vertical axes. The foregoingarrangement is necessary to guarantee that, in use, the bales 3 emergingfrom the bale chamber 4 of the baler 2 always are received at preciselythe same location on the accumulator 1 by virtue of this accumulator 1always having the bale receiving portion properly aligned with the balechamber 4. However, for transport purposes, the bale accumulator 1should be able to assume, when seen in a horizontal plane, an angledposition relative to the pulling baler 2. To this end, the tie rods 12are removed and the castor wheels 22 are secured in fixed positionsrelative to the chassis 21 whereby the bale accumulator 1 becomes aconventionally trailed unit.

The base module 20 supports the bale-transfer module 201 which isoperable to displace bales 3 transversely on the table 23 andbale-discharge means including the bale-discharge module 301, which isoperable to discharge bales 3 to the ground. These components will bedescribed in greater detail hereinafter.

The base module 20 of the bale accumulator 1 can be extended by fittingthe extension module 50 which is pivotally attachable at 51 to thechassis 21 of the base module 20. The extension module 50 comprises atable 53 which together with the main bale-receiving table 13 forms aload bed 19 for bales to be accumulated thereon during operation. In asmuch as the extension module 50 increases the width of the baleaccumulator 1, this width can be reduced essentially to that of the basemodule 20 for transportation purposes merely by pivoting the extensionmodule 50 about the pivots 51 to the generally vertical position whichis shown in broken lines in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Considering now the accumulator 1 in operation, it will be seen fromFIG. 3 that, when the accumulator 1 is provided in its simplest formcomprising only the base module 20, the bale-discharge means includingthe bale-dumping module 301 and the bale-transfer module 201, it isoperable to receive a maximum of two bales 3 only on the bale-receivingtable 23; these two bales 3 sitting on the table 23 on one of theirlonger sides. As soon as a pair of bales 3 has been accumulated, it isimmediately discharged to the ground, whereby the pattern of bales overthe field traversed by the baler 2 and accumulator 1 is as indicated inFIG. 3a of the drawings. This pattern is "random" in the sense thatbales 3 will be discharged in pairs as and when they have beenaccumulated and, as accumulation depends on bale formation which in turndepends upon the amount of crop material being picked up, then thespacing between pairs of bales 3 is variable. However, this "random"discharge of the pairs of bales 3 has to be accepted because, as soon asthe second bale 3 has been accumulated on the table 23, the next bale 3is being formed in the bale chamber 4 of the baler 2 and, in as much asthe cycle of bale formation is only of the order of 40 seconds, theaccumulated pair has to be discharged immediately in order to avoid anypossibility of the next bale 3 being formed interfering with the lastbale 3 ejected from the bale chamber 4.

Looking now at FIG. 4 of the drawings which shows the extension module50 fitted to the base module 20, the width of the load bed 19 is thusincreased so that it can accept across its width three bales 3 sittingon their longer sides. With this arrangement, it is possible todischarge pairs of bales 3 in a predetermined pattern over the fieldbeing traversed by the baler 2 and accumulator 1 and as is indicatedimmediately to the right of FIG. 4 of the drawings. However, with thiscombination of the base module 20 the bale discharge means including thebale-dumping module 301, the bale-transfer module 201 and the extensionmodule 50, it is also possible to accumulate parcels of three bales 3and to discharge these parcels as indicated in FIG. 4a of the drawings.It will be seen that the parcels of three bales 3 are discharged"randomly" in the same sense as the parcels of two bales 3 formed whenusing only the base module 20 and as illustrated in FIG. 3 of thedrawings. Again, this is because, once a parcel of three bales 3 hasbeen accumulated, it must be discharged immediately to avoid anyinterference by the next bale 3 being formed in the bale chamber 4 andemerging therefrom. Accordingly, the combination of the base module 20and the extension module 50 can be used to discharge two patterns ofbales 3, as required by the operator.

The advantage of the "regular" or "in-line" discharge of pairs of bales3 is that these pairs can be relatively closely disposed in lines acrossthe field, which makes it much easier for subsequent picking up bymechanised means for loading onto transport for hauling to anotherlocation. It will be appreciated that the reason why a pair of bales 3can be discharged at a predetermined point in the field is that anaccumulated pair is clear of the next bale 3 being formed in the balechamber 4 and emerging therefrom and onto the table 23 in view of theextended width of the load bed 19 provided by the extension module 50.With this arrangement, the portion of the discharge means positioned inline with the bale chamber 4 of the baler 2 is rendered inoperative(e.g. by means of a slidable coupling, not illustrated) so that it doesnot interfere with a third bale 3 being formed and emerging from thebale chamber 4 when this bale discharge means is set in action todischarge a previously accumulated pair of bales 3. It will also beappreciated that this portion of the discharge means will be renderedoperative again when it is desired to discharge parcels of three bales3.

Turning now to FIG. 2, this illustrates how parcels of four bales 3 canbe accumulated on the load bed 19 by turning the bales 3 through 90° asthey emerge from the bale chamber 4 of the baler 2 and so that they siton the load bed 19 on their shorter sides. Using this mode of operation,the parcels of four bales 3 have to be discharged immediately after theyhave been accumulated. As a consequence, this once again gives rise to a"random" pattern of discharged parcels of bales 3 across the field. Itwill be appreciated that parcels of three bales 3 disposed on theirlonger sides as well as parcels of two "flat" bales 3 can also beaccumulated using the combination of modules 20, 50, 101, 201 and 301.In other words, an accumulator 1 comprising all of its modules can alsoperform the unloading patterns of the arrangements shown in FIGS. 3a and4a. On top of that, the combination of all available modules alsopermits the formation of parcels comprising either two or three bales 3"on edge".

It will be noted from the drawings that, when the extension module 50 isfitted to the base module 20, then an additional castor wheel 22 isprovided in order to accomodate the extra load that can be accumulatedon the extended load bed 19.

Turning now to FIG. 6 of the drawings, the overall operation of the baleaccumulator 1 will be described by reference to the interaction of thehydraulic controls and the mechanical controls and this will be followedby a more detailed description of certain of the mechanical components.The description with reference to FIG. 6 will be given on the basis thatthe bale accumulator 1 has all available modules installed.

Three hydraulic control spool valves 102, 202 and 302 are connected inseries and are normally in a position A in which pressure fluid from apressure line P passes straight through one side of each valve to anhydraulic motor 303 from where it is returned to a return line R. Thusthe flow of pressure fluid has no effect other than driving thehydraulic motor 303 when the valves 102, 202 and 302 are in the Aposition, i.e. the rest position. However, unless a clutch 330 isengaged, this energization of the hydraulic motor 303 also has no effecton any of the machine components.

A main sensor member 141 of the main sensor means 140 (FIGS. 1, 5 and 8)is provided at the appropriate location along the length of theaccumulator 1 for detecting the presence of a bale 3 once this bale 3has completely arrived on the table 23. An over-center device 130 isassociated with the main sensor means 140 and the valve 102 in a mannerso as to flip over center and change the valve 102 from the A positionto the B position when the main sensor means 140 detects the presence ofa bale 3. In the B position of the valve 102, pressure fluid is directedto the lower end of the double-acting hydraulic actuator 103 therebycausing this actuator 103 to extend and the bale-turning means 110 tomove to its raised position which effects turning of the bale 3 inquestion through 90° as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.As the actuator 103 extends, fluid from the upper end thereof passes viavalve 102 directly to the return line R. Also, the flow of pressurefluid through the motor 303 is interrupted at that moment.

When the bale-turning mechanism 110 reaches its uppermost position asshown in broken lines in FIG. 6, a linkage mechanism 160 resets theover-center device 130 whereby it is flipped back to its originalposition (the position shown in FIG. 6) and thus changes the valve 102back to the position A in which the bale-turning mechanism 110 ispermitted to return to its home position by the gravity forces actingthereupon. During this return movement of the bale-turning mechanism110, pressure fluid is directed to the top of the actuator 103 and fluidfrom the bottom end of the actuator 103 is drained via valve 102 intothe return line R.

During the lifting movement of the bale-turning mechanism 110 atriggering mechanism, schematically represented in FIG. 6 by broken line240 is "loaded". This triggering mechanism 240 is operatively associatedwith an over-center device 230 which itself is operatively associatedwith the valve 202. Said triggering device 240 is operative, when thebale-turning mechanism 110 reaches its home position, to flip the device230 over center. This, in turn, causes the valve 202 to shift to the Bposition whereby the bale-transfer cycle is initiated.

It still should be remarked that a mechanical latch 280 is associatedwith the bale-transfer means 210 and which is operable to lock thebale-transfer means 210 in its home position while the bale-turningmeans 110 is operated. This mechanical latch 280 is disengaged orretracted when the bale-turning means 110 is in its home position.Similarly, a further mechanical latch 290 (FIG. 7) which is operated bythe bale-transfer means 210, positively locks the bale-turning means 110in the home position when the bale-transfer means 210 is operated. Thisfurther mechanical latch 290 is disengaged or retracted by thebale-transfer means 210 when the latter is in its home position.Although strictly speaking, these mechanical latches 280 and 290 are notneeded in as much as, under normal circumstances, the hydraulic systemoperates the bale-turning means 110 and the bale-transfer means 210 onlysequentially, it nevertheless provides an extra safety which positivelyprevents interference between the bale-turning and bale-transfer means110 and 210 and which otherwise possibly might occur when e.g. thehydraulic system would function incorrectly or partially fail.

Returning to the bale-transfer cycle and considering the point where theover-center device 230 has been flipped over by the triggering mechanism240 and, as a consequence, the valve 202 has been shifted to its Bposition, pressure fluid is directed to the left-hand end of theactuator 203 of the bale-transfer means 210 to extend the same so as tooperate said bale-transfer means 210 whereby a previously turned bale 3is pushed transversely across the accumulator table 23 by a distanceequal to a bale width (e.g. 60 cm). Pressure fluid at the other side ofthe plunger of the actuator 203 is drained via valve 202 to the returnline R.

When the bale-transfer means 210 has moved to its maximum extent, aresetting of the over-center device 230 is effected via a linkage 260whereby the valve 202 is moved back to the A position in which pressurefluid is directed to the right-hand end of the actuator 203 and thusdrives the transfer mechanism 210 back to the home position.

It should be noted that a further linkage 320 is associated with thebale-transfer mechanism 210 and the valve 302 of the bale-dischargemeans 310 for shifting this valve 302 to the B position when thebale-transfer means 210 is in any other position than its home positionand for thereby interrupting the flow of pressure fluid to the motor 303so that, during the entire cycle (i.e. both the bale transfer part andthe return part) of the bale-transfer means 210 sufficient pressure isavailable to operate said bale-transfer means 210.

Looking now at valve 302, this is changed, as already said, to the Bposition as soon as the bale-transfer means 210 moves from the homeposition. In the B position of the valve 302 the hydraulic motor 303 isblocked from any pressure fluid and this situation pertains until thebale-transfer means 210 returns to the home position, whereupon thevalve 302 is changed back to the A position in which pressure fluid canthen be applied to the motor 303 which is accordingly renderedoperative. However, at this time the clutch 330 is inoperative so thatan unloading conveyor 310 with which the clutch 330 is operativelycoupled, is not rendered operative. This is the situation in as far asthe first, second and third bales 3 are concerned and which have beenturned and then pushed across the load bed 19 assuming that theaccumulator 1 indeed is set up to handle four bales 3. In general, theclutch 330 is inoperative for all of the bales 3 except the final one aswill now be explained.

A full load sensor 360 is provided at the side of the load bed 19opposite to the side thereof facing the bale-turning and bale-transfermeans 110 respectively 210. This sensor 360 is operatively associatedvia linkages 370 and 385 with both the over-center device 230 and theclutch 330 in a manner, when it is acted upon by a bale on the load bed19, to return the over-center device 230 to the raised home position andto engage the clutch 330. This normally occurs when a fourth bale 3 hasbeen turned through 90° on the load bed 19 and after it is displacedsideways to join the parcel of three bales 3 previously alreadyaccumulated on said load bed 19 and after the parcel of four bales 3thus accumulated is shifted over a relatively short distance. In otherwords, the bale-transfer means 210 is returned to the home positionwithout first reaching its fully extended position. The intermediateposition assumed by the bale-transfer means 210 at the moment themovement thereof is reversed during the fourth cycle, is illustrated inFIG. 6 in chain lines.

After the bale-transfer movement of the bale-transfer means 210 isinterrupted and reversed in the way as described hereabove, the clutch330 is engaged via the linkage 385. This causes the motor 303 to drivethe bale-discharge conveyor 310 which results in the discharge to theground of the parcel of bales 3 previously accumulated on the load bed19. The operative coupling of the full load sensor 360 to the linkages370 and 385 further also includes a latch 401 which, upon actuation ofthe sensor 360 becomes operative to hold the linkages 370 and 385 in theactuating positions until this latch 401 is released again by thebale-discharge conveyor 310 upon the completion of the bale-dischargecycle and whereby the clutch 330 is disengaged thus interrupting thedrive to the conveyor 310 and the linkage 370 is retracted so that theover-center device 230 can be flipped over center again when nextactuated by the triggering mechanism 240.

Having so far described the accumulator 1 in general terms, the variouscomponents of a preferred embodiment will now be described in moredetails.

Looking first more closely at the bale-turning mechanism 110 (FIGS. 2and 7), this is formed by a sub-assembly 101 which is mounted on twofore-and-aft spaced apart supports 24 which are part of the chassis 21.The bale-turning mechanism 110 is in the form of a generallyrectangularly shaped structure, one side of which is formed by afore-and-aft pivot shaft 111 pivotally mounted on the supports 24. Theside of the rectangular shape which is parallel to the pivot shaft 111is formed by a bale-engaging member 120 comprising a plurality of discs121 which support around a portion of the periphery a number of invertedangle iron members 122 which provide a relatively aggressive action onthe bales 3 when engaged thereby. The bale-engaging member 120 furtheralso comprises an extension element 123 which is oriented generallydownwardly. The third and fourth sides of the rectangularly shapedstructure are formed by arms 112 which extend from the pivot shaft 111and which each comprise a bent portion 113 fixedly connected at one endto the pivot shaft 111 and a straight portion 114 interconnecting thebent portion 113 and the corresponding end of the bale-engaging member120 via pivots 115 and 116. These pivots 115 and 116 allow thebale-engaging member 120 to fold back in case there would be amalfunctioning of the machine resulting in said member 120 beingpositioned in the path of a bale 3 emerging from the bale chamber 4 andarriving on the table 23. Spring means (not shown) permit this foldingback of the bale-engaging member 120 when necessary and hold said member120 in the extended position under normal operational conditions. Thehydraulic actuator 103 (FIG. 2) extends between a support 25 on thechassis 21 and a bracket 117 fixedly secured to the pivot shaft 111 andis operable to move the bale-turning means 110 between the retractedhome position shown in full lines in FIG. 7 and the extended baleturning position partially shown in broken lines in the same Figure.

The mechanical latch 280 for the bale-transfer means 210 to whichreference already has been made hereabove, is formed by a hook 281 whichis pivotally mounted at 282 on one of the supports 24 and which isengageable by the bracket 117 when the actuator 103 is fully retracted,i.e. when the bale-turning means 110 is in the home position. In thishome position of the bale-turning means 110, the latch 280 is urged toits releasing position (shown in FIG. 7) opposite to the force of aspring (not shown) acting thereon. This spring urges the latch 280 to anoperative position for locking the bale-transfer means 210 in the homeposition as soon as the bale-turning means 110 is moved away from thehome position.

The pivot shaft 111 further also has fixedly attached thereto arms 161and 241 (FIG. 14) which are part of respectively the reset linkagemechanism 160 and the triggering mechanism 240 already mentioned andwhich will be described in more details hereinafter.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 to 4 and 7, the bale-transfer means 210 will bedescribed in greater detail. This mechanism comprises a pair of arms 211which are fixedly attached at one end to a common fore-and-aft pivotshaft 212 which itself is pivotally mounted between the supports 24 ofthe accumulator chassis 21. The arms 211 pivotally support at theirother ends a further fore-and-aft extending pivot shaft 213 which ispart of a generally rectangularly shaped pusher member 220 which furtheralso comprises a bale-engaging rod 221 extending parallel to the pivotshafts 212 and 213. The rod 221 and the pivot shaft 213 areinterconnected by fore-and-aft spaced apart arms 214 which extend over ashort distance beyond the pivot shaft 213 for pivotally receiving at 215further rods 216 which in turn are pivotally attached at their otherends at 217 to brackets 218 secured to the supports 24. The distancebetween each pivot 217 and the pivot shaft 212 is roughly twice thedistance between each pivot 215 and the pivot shaft 213. Thedouble-acting hydraulic actuator 203 extends between one of the supports24 and a corresponding arm 214 of the pusher member 220.

With this geometrical arrangement, when the actuator 203 is extended,the bale engaging rod 221 moves substantially linearly so as to push abale 3 across the accumulator table 23 without substantially slidingrelative thereto. The fully retracted or home position and the fullyextended operative position of the bale-transfer means 210 areillustrated respectively in full lines and broken lines in FIG. 7.

Similarly as the arms 112 of the bale-turning mechanism 110, also thearms 214 of the bale-transfer mechanism 210 consist of two portions 222,223 with the portions 222 being fixedly attached at one end to thecommon pivot shaft 213 and being pivotally coupled at their other endsvia pivots 224 to the second portions 223 which, in turn, are coupled tothe bale-engaging rod 221 via further pivots 225. These pivots allow thebale-engaging rod 221 to fold back in case there would be amalfunctioning of the machine whereby said rod 221 would be positionedin the path of a bale 3 emerging from the bale chamber 4 and arriving onthe table 23. Spring means (not shown) permit this folding back of thebale engaging rod 221 when required and tend to hold said rod 221 in theextended position under normal operating conditions.

The pivot shaft 212 of the bale-transfer means 210 also has fixedlyattached thereto a plate member 261 (FIG. 14) which is part of the resetmechanism 260 to which reference has already been made and which will bedescribed in further details hereinafter.

The accumulator 1 further also comprises a mechanical safety latch 290which locks the bale-turning means 110 in the home position when thebale-transfer means 210 is operated. This safety latch 290 thus has asimilar function as the latch 280 which locks the bale-transfer means210 in the home position when the bale-turning means 110 is operated.This mechanical safety latch 290 comprises a latching hook 291 which ispivotally mounted on the bracket 117 of the bale-turning means 110 andwhich is urged by a spring (not shown) in the direction for latchingengagement with a stop 292 on the chassis 21. This latching hook 291 isdisplaced in the direction opposite to the spring force by a pivot lever293 upon engagement thereof by the bale-engaging rod 221 when in thehome position. In other words, as soon as the bale-engaging rod 221 ismoved away from the home position, the pivot lever 293 is permitted topivot in a direction enabling the latching hook 291 to move to itsoperative position for engagement with the stop 292 on the chassis 21whereby the bale-turning means 110 thus is positively locked in the homeposition.

Considering now the load surface in more details, it will be seen fromFIG. 5 that it basically is formed by the base module 20, the extensionmodule 50 and the bale-dumping module 301.

The base module 20 comprises a rectangular subframe 26 with a supportsurface 27 which extends substantially across the entire subframe 26except for the left-hand portion thereof which is left open at 28 forreceiving the bale-engaging member 120 therethrough when thebale-turning means 110 moves to the home position. This support surface27 is positioned offset relative to the bale chamber 4 of the baler 2pulling the accumulator 1 so that a bale 3 emerging from said balechamber 4 is received partly supported on the support surface 27 andpartly overlapping the opening 28 at a location above the bale-engagingmeans 120 when the bale-turning means 110 is in the home position.

The extension module 50 comprises a further subframe 56 with a supportsurface 57 and which is pivotally attached via pivots 51 to the basemodule 20. The extension module 50 can be placed in a retracted uprighttransport position and a horizontal operative position. Appropriatelatching means are provided for holding the extension module 50 in theselected position.

The bale-dumping module 301 equally comprises a support surface 307which is pivotally mounted via pivots 304 to the rear edges of the basemodule 20 and the extension module 50 and which is held in a horizontalbale-receiving position by a suspension mechanism 350 to be described inmore details hereinafter and which, under influence of gravity forces,releases the support surface 307 to permit it to flip down and to dump aparcel of bales 3 as a compact single unit to the ground. It will beseen in FIG. 5 that the dumping module 301 in fact comprises twoportions 305 and 306 which equally are pivotally coupled to each otherat 308; this pivotal coupling being necessary to permit placing theaccumulator 1 in the transport position with the extension module 50 andthe portion 306 in the upright position. It will also be appreciatedthat the dumping module 301 can flip downwardly only when the extensionmodule 50 and the portion 306 are in the horizontal position.

The base module 20 and the extension module 50 are provided withstationary bale guide members 31, 32 at their opposite sides, whichproject above the level of the load surface and which are designed andpositioned to assist in holding tightly together in compact form duringthe bale-dumping cycle a parcel of bales 3 previously accumulated on theaccumulator 1. To this end, the guide members 31, 32 comprise forwardparallel portions 33 and rearward portions 34 which taper towards eachother when seen in the rearward direction. During the bale-dumpingoperation, accumulated bales 3 are confined between the parallelportions 33 and are urged towards each other by the inclined portions34.

The accumulator 1 further also comprises three bale-conveyor chains 311which extend in a fore-and-aft direction at transversely spaced apartintervals across the width of the base module 20 and the extensionmodule 50. The chains 311 are mounted on forward idler sprockets 312 andrearward drive sprockets 313. The drive sprockets 313 are mounted on adrive shaft 314 which extends generally at the rear end of the basemodule 20 and the extension module 50 across the width thereof. Thedrive shaft 314 comprises a universal joint 315 which is aligned withthe pivots 51 of the extension module 50 so as to permit pivotalmovement of the extension module 50 between the transport and operativepositions. A drive clutching mechanism 330 is coupled to the left handend of the drive shaft 314 and will be described in more detailshereinafter.

Each conveyor chain 311 has a pair of bale-engaging members 316 whichare spaced 180° apart. In the rest position of the bale conveyor means310, the bale-engaging members 316 are positioned below the level of theload surface at the forward and rearward edges of the base module 20respectively the extension module 50. In other words, the bale-engagingmembers 316 are in retracted positions out of the path of the bales 3emerging from the bale chamber 4 of the baler 2, respectively of thebales 3 being transferred across the surface of the table 23 and thesupport surface 57 of the extension module 50.

The bale accumulator 1 further also comprises bale stabilizing meanswhich basically consist of three major components and which cooperatewith each other and with the load bed 19.

A first bale-stabilizing means 60 has a bale-engaging member 61 whichextends generally in the fore-and-aft direction at an offset location tothe right of a bale 3 as it emerges from the bale chamber 4 and which ismovable between an extended operative position above the table surface27 and a retracted position therebelow. Spring means 62 extendingbetween an arm 63 of the stabilizing means 60 and the chassis 21 urgethe member 61 to the extended position and permit said member 61 toretract below the surface 27 when the bale-transfer means 210 pushes abale 3 transversely across the table 23 to the other side of thebale-engaging member 61. The relative position of the firstbale-stabilizing means 60 is so that, upon the bale-transfer means 210reaching its fully extended position, a bale 3 transferred thereby ispushed fully beyond the bale-engaging member 61 of the stabilizing means60 whereby this member 61 can resume its extended position prior to thebale-transfer means 210 starting to return to its home position.

The second bale-stabilizing means 65 has a bale-engaging member 66 whichis positioned generally vertically above the bale-engaging member 61 ofthe first bale-stabilizing means 60 at a height above the table 23generally corresponding to the height of the bales 3 to be handled. Thebale-engaging member 66 is pivotally mounted on a pair of mounting arms67 which extend overtop across the area where a bale 3 emerging from thebale chamber 4 is received and which are fixedly coupled to the chassismembers 24. Spring means 68 urge the bale-engaging member 66 into agenerally vertically downwardly extending orientation and permit saidmember 66 to swing to the right when a bale 3 is transferred therebelowacross the table 23. The bale-engaging member 66 has fingers or tines 69which, under influence of the spring means 68, enter into the surface ofa bale 3 positioned therebelow and which, in cooperation with thebale-engaging member 61 of the first stabilizing means 60, effectivelyprevent this bale 3 from being displaced back to the left once it hasbeen pushed beyond the first bale-stabilizing means 60. The secondbale-stabilizing means 65 further also prevent a bale 3 held therebyfrom tipping back to the left. This second bale-stabilizing means 65 maybe dispensed with when the accumulator 1 is set to receive bales 3"flat" as is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, i.e. when the accumulator 1 is setto skip the bale-turning cycle.

The first and second bale stabilizing means 60, 65 further alsocooperate with a third bale-stabilizing means 70 which is providedgenerally at the right-hand side of the accumulator 1 and whichoperatively engages the side of the first bale 3 on the table 23 andfacing to the right. This third bale stabilizing means 70 comprises abale-engaging member 71 which is pivotally mounted on a support arm 72which itself is pivotally mounted at 73 to a forward portion 29 of thechassis 21. The pivot 73 is extended below the level of the table 23 andhas a sector 74 affixed thereto. Spring means 75 are attached at one endto the chassis 21 and are coupled at the other end via a chain 76 to thesector 74. The chain 76 extends around a sprocket 77 and engages theouter surface of the sector 74. Further spring means 78 urge thebale-engaging member 71 in the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 5and permit said member 71 to pivot to the full line position uponengagement by a bale 3.

The spring means 75 are rather strong and urge the thirdbale-stabilizing means 70 toward the broken line position shown in FIG.5. In operation, bales 3 are transferred by the bale-transfer means 210the one after the other beyond the first and second bale-stabilizingmeans 60 and 65 opposite to the action of the third bale-stabilizingmeans 70 and thus, the or each bale 3 on the load bed 19 is wellstabilized against falling over or sliding due to general vibrationand/or the baler 2 and accumulator 1 working on inclines. At the sametime, all three bale-stabilizing means 60, 65 and 70 also cooperate tofirmly hold together in a compact parcel the bales 3 which arepositioned therebetween. The same also applies when the bale-dischargemeans 310 are made operative and start discharging a parcel of bales 3in a rearward direction. As the parcel of bales 3 are pushed off theaccumulator 1, the bale-guide members 31, 32 also contribute to holdingthe parcel tightly together.

The bale-stabilizing means 60, 65 and 70 should not obstruct thedischarge of parcels of bales 3. The bale-stabilizing means 60 and 70clearly do not present a problem in this respect by virtue of thegeneral orientation of the bale-engaging members 61 and 71 thereof whenin the operative position. As far as the second bale-stabilizing means65 is concerned, the bale-engaging member 66 thereof may be provided atan angle relative to the fore-and-aft direction so that the movement ofa parcel of bales in the discharge direction causes said bale-engagingmember 66 to pivot in a direction opposite to the action of the spring68 thus permitting the discharge of the parcel. Alternatively as inaddition thereto, the tines 69 of the bale-engaging member 66 may beinclined in the discharge direction to permit the discharge of a parcelof bales 3 in this direction.

With reference to FIGS. 9 and 10 the suspension mechanism 350 for thebale-dumping table 309 now will be described in more details. Downwardlyextending supports 351 and 352 are affixed to the lower sides of thechassis 21 and the dumping table 309 respectively. A suspension rod 353is pivotally coupled at 354 to the support 352 and is slidably receivedthrough a pivotal mounting 355 on the support 351. A suspension spring356 extends between a stop 357 on the rod 353 an the pivotal mounting355 and is dimensioned so as to urge the table 309 to the horizontalposition when no bales 3 are positioned thereon.

A latch 340 is provided at the free end of the suspension rod 353 andcomprises an apertured latch plate 341. Spring loaded latching balls 342supported on the chassis 21 are disposed to cooperate with the aperture343 in the latch plate 341. The latching balls 342 are received in bores344 which are fixedly secured to the chassis 21 and springs 345 act onthese balls 342 via pins 346. When the bale-dumping table 309 is free toswing to its horizontal position under influence of the action of thespring 356, the latching plate 341 is shifted so as to permit the balls342 to snap in the bore 343 whereby the bale-dumping table 309 is thusheld in its horizontal position. However, when bales 3 are pushedrearwardly over the bale-dumping table 309, the load on the latch 340increases and, at a given load, the balls 342 can no longer hold thelatch plate 341 which thus is released and whereby the bale-dumpingtable 309 is permitted to abruptly flip downwardly. This is advantageousin as much as it contributes in dumping a compact parcel of bales 3 as asolid single unit to the ground. After a parcel of bales 3 is dischargedto the ground, the spring 356 is operable to flip the dumping table 309back to the horizontal position and to reengage the latch 340.

It will be appreciated that the latch 340 basically is only loaddependent and is not influenced to any substantial degree by theaccumulator 1 operating on slopes. Also once the latch 340 is released,only minimal frictional forces are present between the balls 342 and thelatch plate 341. These limited frictional forces do not interfere withthe proper operation of the dumping table 309.

Turning to FIGS. 11 and 12, the clutch 330 will now be described in moredetails. The hydraulic motor 303 is provided with a sprocket 317 whichis drivingly coupled via a chain 318 and a further sprocket 319 to theouter member 331 of the clutching mechanism 330 and which is freelyrotatably mounted on an intermediate shaft 347. The outer clutchingmember 331 is hub shaped and comprises an inner cam 332 which isdisposed to engage with a roller 333 of an inner clutching member 334which itself is keyed on the intermediate shaft 347. The roller 333 isrotatably mounted on a clutching lever 335 which itself is pivotallymounted on a bracket 336 keyed on the shaft 347 and upon which acts aspring 337 for urging the roller 333 within the path of the cam 332. Theclutching lever 335 further also comprises an abutment member 338 whichmay engage with an arm 396 of a triggering mechanism 395 which ispivotally mounted on the chassis 21 and which is coupled via a furtherarm 397 to the linkage 385 already referred to hereabove.

In operation and when the hydraulic motor 303 is driven, driving poweris transmitted via the chain-and-sprocket transmission 317, 318 and 319to the outer clutching member 331 which thus is rotated around the shaft347 without driving this shaft 347 in as much as the abutment member 338of the clutching lever 335 engages the arm 396 whereby the roller 333 isretracted from the path of the cam 332 on the outer clutching member331. When subsequently the linkage 385 is actuated and thus the arm 396is pivoted upwardly (as seen in FIG. 12), the abutment member 338 isreleased thus permitting the spring 337 to pivot the clutching lever 335to the clutching position. As a consequence, the roller 333 is moved inthe path of the cam 332 and the outer clutching member 331 is caused totransmit rotational power to the inner clutching member 334 thus drivingthe intermediate shaft 347. This motive power is transmitted via thechain-and-sprocket transmission 348 to the unloading conveyor shaft 314whereby the bale-discharge conveyor chains 311 are set in motion. Thisdrive continues until one of the bale-engaging members 316 engages thereset mechanism 410 (FIG. 6) causing the arm 396 to pivot back to thedeclutching position, i.e. to the position wherein the arm 396 ispivoted in the path of the abutment member 338. Upon the abutment member338 engaging the arm 396 the roller 333 is retracted from the path ofthe cam 332 and thus the drive to the bale discharge conveyor means 310is disengaged. Thus, between the engagement and disengagement of theclutch mechanism 330, the bale discharge conveyor means 310 is driven sothat the bale-engaging members 316 positioned at the forward end of thetable 23 are moved to the rearward end of the table 23 and those whichwere positioned at the rearward end of the table 23 are moved to thefront, thus unloading one parcel of bales 3 and resetting thebale-discharge conveyor means 310 ready for discharging the next parcelof bales 3 still to be accumulated on the load bed 19.

The clutching mechanism 330 further also comprises a ratchet type oflocking device 398 consisting of a leafspring 399 secured to the chassis21 and disposed to engage with the teeth of a toothed segment 400secured to the bracket 336. The leafspring 399 and the teeth of thesegment 400 cooperate in a manner to permit rotational movement of thedriven clutching member 334 in the normal drive direction and to preventrotational movement in the opposite direction. Such reverse movementeventually could be induced, in case no precautions would be taken, byinertia forces upon the disengagement of the clutching mechanism 330;this declutching, in practice, being rather abrupt. Such reversal of themovement of the inner clutching member 334 and thus also of thebale-discharge conveyor means 310 must be prevented to ensure that thebale-discharge conveyor means 310 always returns to the appropriatestart or home position.

Turning to FIG. 8 and to the FIGS. 13 to 19, the various mechanicalcontrols of the accumulator 1 will now be described in more details. Itis remarked in this respect that the first function (i.e. normally theturning of a bale 3 as it arrives on the table 23) is triggered by amain sensor 140 and that all subsequent functions are triggered inlogical consecutive order by end-of-stroke sensors actuated by the nextpreceding functions. It will also be remarked that the controls may beset to skip the first function, i.e. to skip the bale-turning step. Inthis situation the main sensor 140 is disposed to trigger thebale-transfer step without first triggering the bale-turning step andwhereafter all further consecutive steps again follow automatically in alogical order by the consecutive actuation of various end-of-strokesensors.

Referring now particularly to FIG. 8, the main sensor 140 will be seen.It should be remarked here that the accumulator 1 should be able toaccomodate bales of different lengths as may be obtained by adjustingthe bale length control of the baler. It should also be remarked that,of course, the main accumulator functions (i.e. bale-turning andbale-transferring) may not be initiated until a bale 3 has left the balechamber 4 of the baler 2 completely.

To this end, the main sensor 140 on the accumulator 1 comprises a sensorelement 141 which the operator may install at wish at any one of anumber of positions along the length of the table 23 and in alignmentwith the bale chamber 4. In the embodiment as shown, three suchpositions are provided, two of which are located along the length of thebase module 20 and one of which is located within the bale-dumpingmodule 301.

The sensor element 141 is fixedly connectable to any one of three pivotshafts 142 dependent on the length of bales 3 to be handled. Two pivotshafts 142 are pivotally mounted on the chassis 21 below the surface 27of the main table 23 and a third pivot shaft 142 is pivotally mounted onthe bale-dumping table 309 below the surface 307 thereof. An arm 143 isconnected to each one of these pivot shafts 142 and a linkage mechanism144 comprising three links 145, 146 and 147 interconnects all three ofsaid arms 143 with a control mechanism 150. A first link 145interconnects the first and second arms 143 and a further link 146interconnects the second arm 143 and a further arm 148 of the controlmechanism 150. A third link 147 interconnects the third arm 143 andstill another arm 149 of the control mechanism 150.

The control mechanism 150 comprises a pivot shaft 151 which is mountedcoaxially with the pivot axis 304 of the bale-dumping table 309, thearrangement being such that the main sensor 140 does not interfere withthe dumping operation of the bale-dumping table 309 as will be explainedfurtheron.

The arms 148 and 149 already referred to are fixedly coupled to thepivot shaft 151 which further also supports a cam 152 consisting ofgenerally circular section 153 and a generally radial section 154. Apivot lever 155, which is pivotally mounted on the chassis 21, isprovided with a cam roller 156; said roller 156 engaging the cam surfaceand being positioned in contact with the radial section 154 when thesensor 140 is not activated and in contact with the circular section 153when the sensor 140 is activated. As a consequence, the pivot lever 155is movable between the home position shown in full lines in FIG. 8 andthe actuated position partially shown in broken lines in the sameFigure. When the sensor member 141 is installed on the bale-dumpingtable 309 the downward pivotal movement of said table 309 during thedumping operation causes an additional angular displacement of the cam152 on top of the angular displacement induced thereto by the actuationof the main sensor member 141 by a bale 3. However, such additionalangular displacement of the cam 152 has no effect whatsoever on thecontrols in as much as it only results in the cam roller 156 beingpositioned further along the arcuate cam surface 153, i.e. the pivotlever 155 remains in its broken line position of FIG. 8 when the dumpingtable 309 is pivoted downwardly while the sensor member 141 positionedon said table 309 is depressed. This thus also means that, as alreadymentioned, the dumping cycle does not interfere with the operation ofthe main sensor 140.

The free end of the pivot lever 155 is coupled via a link 185 to one arm187 of a further control member 186 pivotally mounted at 188 on thechassis 21 and also comprising a second and a third arm 189 and 190respectively. A damping cylinder 191 (FIG. 14) is coupled to the thirdarm 190 and the second arm 189 is provided with actuator surfaces 192and 193 which engage a roller 431 of a control indicated generally at430 in FIGS. 15 and 16. The roller 431 engages the actuator surface 192when in the home position.

With reference to FIGS. 14 to 19, the centralized controls will now bedescribed in more details. The control 430 already mentioned hereaboveforms part thereof. These centralized controls basically are mounted onthree stationary shafts 450, 451 and 452 which extend between platemembers 453 which are attachable to the supports 24 of the chassis 21.These centralized controls thus, in effect, form a module 449 which canbe pre-assembled and mounted as such on the accumulator 1.

Considering now more specifically FIGS. 14 to 16 the control 430 willnow be described in more details. As already indicated, this controlcomprises a roller 431 which is rotatably mounted on an arm 432 whichitself is coupled to a bushing 433 which is freely rotatably mounted onthe shaft 450. It will be understood from an inspection of FIGS. 14 and15 that the control member 186 and the arm 432 are movable in differentplanes and that, as a consequence, the actuator surfaces 192 and 193 aredisplaced axially relative to the roller 431 during operation, thisbeing the reason for the relatively large axial length of the roller431.

It further also should be remarked that, when the main sensor 140 isdepressed by a bale 3 arriving on the table 23 and thus the controllever 155 is pivoted clockwise as seen in FIG. 8, the roller 431 ridesalong the actuator surface 192 until it flips off the end thereof andthus permits the arm 189 to move to the other side (i.e. above) theroller 431. This is necessary to avoid an eventual interference with thesubsequent resetting of the controls as will be described furtheron. Assoon as the arm 189 of the control member 186 has passed to the otherside of the roller 431, the arm 432 is permitted to fall back to itsoriginal full line position of FIG. 15 against a stop 434. However,before this happens, the arm 432 has reached its broken line position ofthe same Figure and in which it has already triggered the one or theother overcenter device 130 or 230 as will be described hereinafter.

To enable the control member 186 to return to its home position, anextra pivot 435 is provided between two portions 436 and 437 of the arm432. The axis of this pivot 435 is positioned at an angle relative tothe path of the arm 189 of the control member 186 and a stop or abutment438 is operatively associated with the portions 436 and 437 so that,when the member 186 moves away from its home position, the stop 438 isoperative to hold the portions 436 and 437 in alignment to each other.In other words, the arrangement is so that the portion 436 is urged inthe clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 16 by the action of the actuatorsurface 192 of the member 186 when the latter is moved away from thehome position. Thereby the stop 438 becomes operative so that theportions 436 and 437 indeed are held in alignment and in effect actuallyform a rigid arm 432 whereby this arm 432 is caused to pivot around theaxis of the shaft 450 by the aforementioned movement of the controlmember 186. However, once the arm 189 of the member 186 has passedbehind the arm 432 (i.e. above the arm 432 as seen in FIG. 15) andsubsequently is caused to return to its home position (by spring means,not shown, acting on the main sensor 140) when the sensor member 141 isno longer depressed by a bale 3, said arm 189 will engage the roller 431from the opposite direction and with its inclined actuator surface 193which is oriented at an angle relative to the actuator surface 192. Thisreturn movement of the control member 186 now exerts a force in theopposite direction on the arm portion 436 and causes said arm portion436 to pivot around pivot 435 in the anti-clockwise direction as shownin broken lines in FIG. 16. Thereby the control member 186 is permittedto return to its home position below the arm 432 which itself previouslyalso has already dropped to its home position. The control member 186 ispermitted to return to its home position when the sensor means 140 isreleased after a bale 3 has been shifted sideways away from the sensormember 141. Spring means (not shown) extending between the arm portions436 and 437 tend to hold these portions in alignment with respect toeach other.

A curved actuator member 440 is adjustably connected to the arm 437 and,dependent on its relative position, is engageable with either the firstor the second over-center device 130 respectively 230. Such engagementtakes place when the arm 432 is caused to pivot to the position shown inbroken lines in FIG. 15. Actuation of these over-center devices 130, 230results, as already indicated, in a shifting of the correspondinghydraulic valves 102, respectively 202.

The over-center devices 130 and 230 comprise first members 131, 231which are pivotally mounted via bushings 132, 232 on the first shaft 450and second members 133, 233 which are pivotally mounted via bushings134, 234 on the third shaft 452. The second members 133, 233 compriserods 135, 235 which are slidably received in apertured pivots 136, 236associated with the arms 137, 237 of the first members 131, 231. Springs138, 238 extend around the rods 135 and 235 and between the bushings134, 234 and the pivots 136, 236. These springs 138, 238 tend to holdthe overcenter devices 130, 230 in any one of their opposite extremepositions while permitting a tripping of these devices when actuated byany actuator means. The curved actuator member 440 is one such actuatormeans which is disposed to engage either pair of the arms 137 or 237.The bushings 132 and 232 are coupled via arms 139 respectively 239 tothe valves 102 respectively 202.

The reset mechanism 160 associated with the bale-turning mechanism 110comprises a rod 162 which is pivotally coupled at one end to the arm 161secured to the main pivot shaft 111 of the bale-turning mechanism 110 asalready described, and which is slidably received through an aperturedbracket 163 secured to the bushing 132 of the first over-center device130; said rod 162 being provided with a stop 164 at its free end forabutting with the bracket 163. This rod 162 and the associated bracket163 effectively form a first end-of-stroke sensor 160 which becomesoperative to switch the over-center device 130 back over center when thebale-turning means 110 reaches its fully extended position and whereby,as already explained, the valve 102 is returned to its initial positionand the bale-turning mechanism 110 is returned to its home position. Assaid bale-turning mechanism 110 reaches its home position, a secondend-of-stroke sensor 240, still to be described, triggers the operationof the bale-transfer means 210.

By the way, it will be noted that the bushings 433, 132 and 232 extendalongside each other and on the shaft 450; the bracket 163 beingconnected to the bushing 132 rather than to the bushing 433 (aseventually could be derived from FIG. 15 if not carefully analysed inview of the teaching of FIG. 14).

Thus, the controls described so far are operable to detect the presenceof a bale 3 on the left-hand side of the table 23 (i.e. a bale 3 whichhas emerged from the bale case 4) and to trigger, in response thereto,the bale-turning cycle. This causes a turning through 90° of the bale 3whereby said bale is placed with its shorter edge on the table 23 butstill substantially in alignment with the bale chamber 4. After thebale-turning means 110 has turned a bale 3 as described, itautomatically returns to its home position by virtue of the resetting ofthe first over-center mechanism 130. In case the actuator member 440 ispositioned to actuate the second over-center device 230 then thebale-turning cycle is skipped and actuation of the main sensor 140immediately triggers the bale-transfer cycle.

Turning now to FIGS. 14 and 19 the triggering of the bale-transfer cyclewill now be described. When the bale-turning means 110 returns to thehome position, arm 241 on the pivot shaft 111 of the bale-turning means110 causes a hook 242 to slide along a pin 243 and eventually to engagesaid pin 243 shortly before the bale-turning means 110 reaches the homeposition. This pin 243 is attached to a lever 244 which itself issecured to the bushing 232 of the second overcenter device 230 and thearrangement is such that, as the bale-turning mechanism 110 reaches thehome position, the hook 242 causes via the pin 243 and the lever 244 thesecond over-center device 230 to flip over center. This, in turninitiates, as already explained, the bale-transfer cycle of thebale-transfer means 210.

During the bale-transfer cycle the pivot shaft 212 of the bale-transfermeans 210 is pivoted back-and-forth through a relatively small angulardisplacement. This angular displacement is amplified via special meanswhich will be described hereinafter and which a.o. operates the resetmechanism 260 which effectively forms a third end-of-stroke sensor.These special means comprise a pair of arms in the form of the platemember 261 secured to the pivot shaft 212. A chain 262 is coupled to thefree ends of these arms 261 and drivingly extends around a sprocket 263secured on a bushing 264 which itself is freely rotatably mounted on theshaft 452. The bushing 264 has fixedly connected thereto an arm 265 ofthe reset mechanism 260 and a cam 266 of semi-circular shape.

Considering now first the cam 266, it will be seen from FIG. 18 that itcomprises a generally circular cam surface 267 and a generally radialcam surface 268, both of which can cooperate with a cam roller 269provided on a pivot arm 270 secured to a bushing 271 which is pivotallymounted on the shaft 451. Spring means (not shown) urge the pivot arm270 towards the cam 266. The cam 266 is positioned so that the camroller 269 contacts the radial surface 268 when the bale-transfer means210 is in the home position and contacts the circular surface 267 soonafter the bale-transfer means 210 is moved away from its home position.The cam roller 269 remains in contact with this circular surface 267during most of the bale-transfer cycle, i.e. until shortly before thebale-transfer means 210 resumes its home position. This engagement ofthe cam roller 269 with the circular cam surface 267 shifts, via pivotarm 270, linkage 272, arm 273, bushing 274, arm 275 and link 276 thevalve 302 to the B position whereby, as already described, duringvirtually the entire bale-transfer cycle the pressure fluid flow to themotor 303 is positively interrupted. This pressure fluid flow is resumedonly when the bale-transfer means 210 returns to the home position. Themechanism as described hereabove thus, in effect, constitutes thelinkage 320 to which reference has already been made and whicheffectively forms a fourth end-of-stroke sensor.

The bushing 274 also has a further arm 250 (FIGS. 14 and 19) attachedthereto and which carries a pin 251. This pin 251 is disposed to engagean extension 252 on the hook 242 and to thereby lift said hook 242 whenthe cam roller 269 engages the circular cam surface 267 i.e. when thebale-transfer means 210 has moved away from the home position. Thiseffectively results in the hook 242 being lifted away from the pin 243soon after the bale-transfer means 210 has started its operation. As aconsequence arm 244 with the pin 243 thereon and thus also the secondover-center device 230 are set free already for subsequently being resetin the home position. This avoids any interference between the variouscontrol components during the subsequent resetting of the secondover-center device 230 when the bale-transfer means 210 reaches itsfully extended position. Again one should be careful when analysing FIG.19. It indeed should be kept in mind that the lever 244 and the arm 250are not fixedly coupled to each other in as much as these components arecoupled to the bushings 232 and 274 respectively which both are freelyrotatably mounted on the shaft 450; only bushing 232 being shown in FIG.19.

Considering now the third end-of-stroke sensor or resetting mechanism260 for the second over-center device 210 in more details, thiscomprises a rod 277 which is pivotally attached at one end to the arm265 on the bushing 264 of which the position is controlled by thesprocket 263 already described. The rod 277 has a stop 278 which,towards the end of the operative stroke of the bale-transfer means 210,cooperates with an apertured bracket 279 secured to the bushing 232 ofthe second over-center device 230 to flip this device back to itsinitial position and to thereby cause the bale-transfer means 210 toreturn to the home position.

Having described now in all details the various controls associated withthe bale-transfer means 210, it will be appreciated that, when a bale 3has been turned on its edge at the left-hand side of the table 23 andthe bale-turning means 110 has returned to the home position, thebale-transfer means 210 is actuated, via a tripping of the secondover-center device 230, to shift this bale 3 transversely to the right.The stroke of the bale-transfer means 210 is such that this bale 3 istransferred over substantially the width of one bale thus clearing thepath for the next bale 3 which starts emerging from the bale chamber 4.The bale 3 thus transferred sideways is positively held between allthree bale-stabilizing means 60, 65 and 70. The third end-of-strokesensor formed by the reset mechanism 260 resets the controls to theoriginal position upon the bale-transfer means 210 reaching the maximumextension thus triggering the return stroke of this means 210. Upon thebale-transfer means 210 reaching the home position, the accumulator 1 isready for receiving a next bale 3.

The bale-turning and bale-transfer cycles as described above arerepeated two more times with each time a further bale 3 being added tothe bale 3 or bales 3 already accumulated on the load bed 19. As asecond and third bale 3 are added to form a parcel, the thirdbale-stabilizing means 70 is urged over a corresponding distance to theright while still exerting a sufficient pressure on the bales 3 for, incooperation with the first and second bale-stabilizing means 60, 65 tokeep them tightly together in a neat parcel.

When a fourth bale 3 has been received on the table 23 and after thisfourth bale 3 equally has been turned on its edge, the bale-transfercycle is initiated a fourth time. However, this fourth cycle isinterrupted earlier than all previous bale-transfer cycles by virtue ofthe arrangements which will be described hereinafter in more details. Italso will be appreciated that, if the control member 440 of the mainsensor means 140 is set to trigger the second over-center device 230,the bale-turning cycle will be skipped completely and only thebale-transfer cycles will be carried out.

Considering now in more details the bale-discharge cycle, a full loadsensor 360 is provided generally at the right-hand side of theaccumulator 1, i.e. at the right-hand side of the extension module 50.This full load sensor 360 comprises a sensor member 361 (FIG. 5) whichis positioned above the level of the load bed 19 and which is affixed toa vertical pivot shaft 362 which is provided at a level below the loadsurface 57 with an arm 363 to which is coupled a linkage 364 whichextends underneath the load bed 19 to the left of the machine where thecentralized controls module 449 is located.

The linkage 364 comprises a first rod 365 which is coupled via auniversal joint 366 to a further rod 367; the universal joint 366 beingaligned with the pivots 51 of the extension module 50 to the base module20. The further rod 367 is coupled to a bell-crank lever 460 comprisinga pivot shaft 461 and a pair of arms 462, 463; one arm 462 being coupledto said further rod 367 and the other arm 463 being coupled to a thirdrod 464. The bell-crank lever 460 further also comprises a third arm 465attached thereto and which forms part of the locking mechanism 401 to bedescribed hereinafter in more details.

The third rod 464 is pivotally coupled at its other end to a first arm467 of a further bell-crank lever 466, the second arm 468 of which iscoupled to a fourth rod 469 which, in turn, is coupled to a fourthbell-crank lever 470 (FIGS. 5 and 14) comprising a pivot 471 and arms472 and 473; this fourth bell-crank lever 470 controlling both theclutch 330 and a second reset mechanism 370 for the bale-transfer means210.

Considering first the clutch control 385, this comprises a rod 386 whichis coupled at one end to the triggering mechanism 395 of the clutch 330and at the other end to the arm 472 of the bell-crank lever 470.

Considering next the second reset mechanism 370, this comprises a rod371 provided with a stop 372 at one end and which is slidably receivedthrough an apertured bracket which is formed by the arm 473 of thebell-crank lever 470. The rod 371 is coupled at its other end to an arm373 secured to the bushing 374 to which also a further arm 375 isattached and which itself, in turn, is coupled to still a further rod376 which is slidably received through an apertured bracket 377 securedto the bushing 232 of the second over-center device 230; the rod 376being provided with a stop 378 which can cooperate with the bracket 377.

The arrangement of the various controls described hereabove is suchthat, after a fourth bale 3 has arrived on the table 23 and has beenturned by the bale-turning means 110, the operation of the bale-transfermeans 210 is initiated in the manner as described before. The fourthbale 3 together with the three bales 3 previously accumulated on theload bed 19 are shifted over an initial distance across the load bed 19and to the right thereof until the first bale 3 on the load surface 57actuates the full load sensor 360. However, this initial displacement isalready sufficient for the cam roller 269 of the hydraulic motor control320 to become positioned on the circular cam surface 267 of the cam 266.As a consequence, the pin 243 is already set free from the hook 242 inthe bale-transfer control 240 so that the second over-center device 230is made ready for resetting.

Now, upon the initial displacement of all four bales 3 accumulated onthe load bed 19, the full load sensor 360 is actuated. This firstresults in the releasing of the clutching lever 335 of the clutch 330 sothat this clutch 330 is set ready for transferring motive power.However, at this point in the cycle, no pressure fluid is supplied tothe motor 303 by virtue of the motor control 320 being operated to holdthe valve 302 in the B position. As a consequence the bale-dischargemeans 310 still is not yet operated.

Upon continued actuation of the full load sensor 360, the secondover-center device 230 subsequently is flipped back to its initialposition via the resetting mechanism 370. As a consequence, thebale-transfer cycle is interrupted before reaching its maximum extensionand the bale-transfer means 210 is returned to the home position. Uponthe bale-transfer means 210 reaching the home position, the valve 302 isreturned to the A position and the hydraulic motor 303 is poweredwhereby the bale-discharge cycle effectively is initiated in as much asthe bale-discharge conveyor 310 starts pushing the parcel of bales 3 inthe rearward direction.

As the parcel of bales 3 is transferred in a rearward direction, it isurged inbetween the bale guide means 31, 32 which cooperate with thebale-stabilizing means 60, 65 and 70 to firmly hold the bales 3 togetherin a neatly formed parcel. As the center of gravity of the parcel istransferred from a position above the load bed 19 to a position abovethe bale-dumping table 309, the holding means 350 for the latter all ofa sudden give way whereby the bale-dumping table 309 abruptly flipsdownwardly and, as a consequence, the parcel of bales 3 is dumped as asingle unit onto the ground. The bale guide means 31, 32 continue to acton the bales 3 to hold them together during the actual dumping thereof.When operating on hillsides, the bale guide means 31, 32 further alsoare effective to prevent bales 3 from tipping sideways during the baledumping cycle. As the parcel of bales 3 drops from the bale-dumpingtable 309, the reset spring 356 of the suspension means 350 causes thebale-dumping table 309 to return to its home position in which the latch340 is snapped in again.

The bale-discharge conveyor 310 continues to be driven, even if theparcel of bales 3 has already dropped to the ground, until it reaches aposition ready for the next dumping cycle. It should be repeated in thisrespect that, as the full load sensor 360 is operated, an initialdisplacement thereof results in the actuation of the clutch 330 and afurther displacement thereof subsequently results in the resetting ofthe bale-transfer controls i.e. the second over-center device 230. Whenthe parcel of bales 3 is being discharged, the full load sensor 360 ispermitted to return to its home position. However, this should notresult in a premature disengagement of the clutch 330. To accomplishthis, a locking mechanism 401 is provided to which reference has alreadybeen made and which now will be described in more details.

This locking mechanism 401 is associated with the arm 465 secured to thebell-crank lever 460 which itself is part of the full load sensorlinkage 364. The locking mechanism 401 comprises a hook 402 attached toa pivot 403 and to which further also is attached an arm 404. Springmeans (not shown) urge the locking mechanism 401 in a direction so thatthe hook 402 extends in the path of the arm 465 of the bell-crank lever460 and the arm 404 extends in the path of one of the conveyor members316 of the bale-discharge conveyor 310. The hook 402 comprises a lead-insurface 405 whereby said hook 402 is urged to retract away from the pathof the arm 465 of the bell-crank lever 460 when said arm 465 is movedaway from the home position and past the hook 402. This permits the arm465 to snap behind said hook 402 whereby the locking mechanism 401becomes operative. This occurs when the full load sensor 360 isoperated. However, when the full load sensor 360 is released upon thedumping of the parcel of bales 3, the hook 402 prevents the arm 465 fromfully returning to its home position and thus also prevents a prematuredisengagement of the clutch 330. As a consequence, the bale-dischargeconveyor 310 continues to be driven. This condition is maintained untilone of the conveyor members 316 engages the arm 404 whereby the hook 402is retracted and the full load sensor 360 thus is permitted to fullyreturn to its home position. This then results in the clutch 330 beingdisengaged at the moment when the bale-discharge conveyor 310 reaches aposition ready for initiating the next bale-discharge cycle. Thebale-discharge conveyor 310 thus is stopped in this position even thoughthe hydraulic motor 303 continues to be driven until the nextbale-transfer cycle is initiated. In summary, the combination of thehook 402 and the arms 404 and 465 thus form the latch 401 and the resetmechanism 410 already referred to.

It finally also will be appreciated that the bale-discharge cycle istotally independent from whether or not the bale-turning cycle has beenskipped, i.e. bales accumulated "flat" on the load bed 19 equally willbe discharged in a neat parcel onto the ground. However, such a parcelwill comprise only three bales 3 in as much as the full load sensor 360will be operated already upon the sideways transfer of the third bale 3.

It will be understood that changes in the details, materials, steps andarrangements of parts, which have been described and illustrated toexplain the nature of the invention, will occur to and may be made bythose skilled in the art upon a reading of this disclosure within theprinciples and scope of the invention.

With reference to FIG. 20 one such alternative arrangement will now bedescribed. It will be noted that, while the controls for thebale-turning means 110 and the bale-transfer means 210 in thisarrangement are identical to the corresponding controls described withreference to FIG. 6, the controls associated with the bale-dischargemeans 310 are basically different. Returning to the bale-transfer means210 of the arrangement according to FIG. 20 it will be noted that, onceit has moved to some extent from the home position, but before itreaches its fully extended position, it engages a pivoted link oractuator 480 which in turn actuates a pivoted rod 481 to which isattached a pawl 482 which, when the rod 481 is pivoted, moves a ratchetbar 483 to the left (as shown in FIG. 20), thus effecting a count of onebale 3. When the rod 481 is free to return to its original position, itdoes so under the action of a spring 484, a holding pawl 485 serving toretain the ratchet bar 483 in position during this return movement.Without the action of this holding pawl 485, the ratchet bar 483 wouldbe returned to its initial position by a spring 486.

Assuming that the accumulator 1 is set to accomodate four bales 3, theratchet bar 483 is moved along by one notch for each of the first threebales 3 and each time the bale-transfer means 210 returns to the homeposition the motor 303 has no effect on the unloading conveyor 310because the clutch 330 is still disengaged. However, when the fourthbale 3 has been turned through 90°, it is essentially in its finalposition in as much as there is no room for it to be shifted sideways byone bale width. There is in fact a small gap between that final bale 3and the third bale 3 which need to be taken up to ensure that the parcelof four bales 3 is discharged in a compact manner. To this end, thebale-transfer means 210 is actuated as previously but as soon as itreaches the position in which the actuator 480 is operated and thecounting mechanism 487 actuated through the rod 481, the ratchet bar 483immediately engages one arm 489 of a bell-crank lever 488, the other arm490 of which pivots and effects two operations. The first operation isto reset the valve 202 from the B to the A position through the linkage370 as already explained in connection with the preferred embodimentshown in FIG. 6 and whereupon the actuator 203 is reversed so that thebale-transfer means 210 has only executed a small part of its normaloperating cycle, this being sufficient just to close the fourth bale 3to the third bale 3 before being returned to the retracted or homeposition. The second action of the bell-crank lever arm 488 is to engagevia the linkage 385 the clutch 330. Thus, when the bale-transfer means210 has this time returned to the home position, the re-energisation ofthe motor 303 through the valve 302 can actually drive the unloadingconveyor 310 to push the parcel of four bales 3 from the accumulatorload bed 19 to the ground. As the conveyor 310 continues moving, iteventually engages beneath the load bed 19 a trip mechanism 491 whichhas two parallel and pivoted arms 492 attached to a bar 493 which inturn is connected to both of the pawls 482 and 485. When the arms 492are pivoted, the bar 493 is raised and hence the pawls 482 and 485 areraised clear of the ratchet bar 483 which is thus returned to itsoriginal position by the action of the spring 486. An adjustable stopmechanism 494 for the ratchet bar 483 is provided so that it returns tothe required initial position which is adjusted by the operatoraccording to whether two, three or four bales 3 are to be accumulated ina parcel. It thus will be appreciated that the counting mechanism 487effectively is the equivalent of the full load sensor 360 of thepreferred embodiment described hereabove with reference to the FIGS. 1to 19.

With reference to FIG. 21 an alternative embodiment of the bale-turningmeans 110 will now be described. This bale-turning means 110 againcomprises a main pivot shaft 511 which is pivotally mounted on thesupports 24. A pair of arms 512 are fixedly connected at one end to thepivot shaft 511 and are interconnected at their free ends (which arecranked) by a roller 520 comprising a plurality of discs 521 whichsupport around the periphery of the roller 520 a number of invertedangle iron members 522. The roller 520 is rotatably mounted on the arms512. The actuator 503 is connected between the accumulator chassis 21and one of the arms 512 by way of an extension or tab 517.

The alternative bale-turning means 110 further also comprises a drivemechanism 525 for the roller 520 so that the latter is driven when it israised from the full line, home position of FIG. 21 to the fullyextended, broken line position of the same Figure. This drive mechanism525 comprises a cable 526 which is attached at one end 527 to theaccumulator chassis 21 and then extends around a pulley 532 and afurther pulley 531 which both are rotatably mounted on the adjacent arm512. The cable 526 then extends from the pulley 531 to a pulley 530provided at the adjacent end of the roller 520; the cable 526 beinggiven multiturns on this pulley 530. The cable 526 then extends to afurther pulley 528 rotatably mounted on one end of an arm 529 which ispivotally mounted at the other end on the adjacent arm 512. Finally, thecable 526 is reattached to the accumulator chassis 21 at 527.

When this bale-turning mechanism 110 is rendered operative in the manneralready described, the actuator 503 is extended and the two arms 512thus rotated, carrying with them the roller 520 which thus is broughtinto engagement with the bottom of a bale 3 which is now alongside thebale-turning mechanism 110 and the bale-transfer mechanism 210. Theroller 520 engages the bale 3 at or towards one longitudinal edgethereof which overlaps the adjacent edge of the table 23. As the arms512 are rotated, the cable 526 starts to drive the roller 520 and themembers 522 thereof bite into the bale 3 and thus move this bale 3relative to the roller 520 and hence pull it towards the roller 520 onthe edge about which it is being tipped to effect turning thereofsubstantially within its own width. It will be seen that the basicmovement of the roller 520 is that of a lifting movement as far as thebale 3 is concerned, but this lifting movement is augmented by theturning movement effected by the rotating roller 520 which is beneficialin order to effect turning within the width of the bale 3. Otherwise,the bale 3 might merely be tilted about the lower corner remote from thebale-turning means 110 and might require a wider table 23. As the roller520 moves upwardly, an increase in length of the cable 526 normallywould be required because the distances between the cable fixation point527 and the pulleys 530, 531 and 532 increase. This problem is overcomeby means of the pulley 528 rotating anti-clockwise on the arm 529 whenthe arms 512 are pivoted upwardly. When the roller 520 returns to thehome position, the pulley 528 is also returned to its initial positionby the action of a spring 533 connected between the arm 529 and theassociated arm 512.

Whilst it is beneficial to drive the roller 520 in order to effectpositive turning of the bale 3, the roller 520 also could be made merelyfreely rotatable.

As already explained, all of the bales 3 in a given parcel are shiftedsideways (irrespective of whether they have been turned through 90°) soas to be positioned closely adjacent each other. It is important tomaintain this position during discharge of the parcel from the load bed19 so as to keep the neat parcel for subsequent handling by mechanisedmeans. Furthermore, keeping the bales 3 of a parcel close to each otherduring discharge provides inter-bale friction such that it is unlikelythat one bale 3 will fall before another and thus destroy the parcel.

With this objective in mind, an alternative bale-converging mechanism550 may be provided as is illustrated in FIG. 22. This mechanism is inthe form of two rollers 551, 552 as regards the basic module 20, with anadditional roller 553 forming part of the extension module 50. Theserollers 551, 552, 553 take the place of the bale-dumping module 301already described herebefore.

The roller 552 is mounted generally parallel to the discharge edge ofthe table 23 with the rollers 551 and 553 having their rotational axesinclined thereto, in a generally horizontal plane, by an angle of theorder of 175°. The rollers 551, 552 and 553 are freely rotatable in theillustrated embodiment but may be driven if required. Each roller 551,552, 553 is formed from pieces of angle iron secured to discs at eitherend and the rollers are mounted on respective portions 554, 555 and 556of a common shaft, which portions are interconnected by universal joints557 and 558 so as to accomodate the relative inclination referred to. Inthe basic module 20, the two rollers 551 and 552 are interconnected bythe universal joint 557 which serves only to accomodate the inclinationof the roller 551 with respect to the roller 552. However, in the fullsize accumulator 1, the universal joint 558 which connects the centralroller 552 to the additional roller 553 is arranged not only toaccomodate the relative inclination but also to allow the extensionmodule 50, of which the additional roller 553 forms part, to be turnedthrough 90° or some other angle for transportation purpose, i.e. toreduce the overall width of the accumulator 1 as already mentioned.

The inclined or converging arrangement of the rollers 551, 552 and 553in the direction of bale discharge together with the rotational couplingtherebetween ensures that the bales 3 of a parcel being discharged areconverged or pushed together as they leave the bale accumulator load bed19. This action may be augmented by additionally providing thestationary bale guide means 31, 32 already referred to.

Furthermore, and as already said hereabove, keeping the bales 3 of aparcel close to each other during discharge provides inter-bale frictionwhich, together with the synchronised rotation of all three rollers 551,552 and 553 prevents that one bale would fall before another and thusdestroy the parcel when discharging a parcel of bales 3 to the ground.

It will also be appreciated that, while bale accumulators as describedhereabove are particularly suited for accumulating bales having arectangular cross section (e.g. 60 cm×90 cm), these accumulators alsoadvantageously may be used for accumulating bales with a square crosssection (e.g. 90 cm×90 cm). However, in the latter case, it may be foundthat the bale-turning cycle has no real merit anymore and thus, thebale-turning cycle preferably should be skipped.

What is claimed is:
 1. An agricultural bale accumulator comprising:abase module having a substantially planar table for receiving aplurality of bales thereon; a bale transfer module for individuallyturning each bale received on said table through substantially 90° aboutits longitudinal axis, wherein each bale remains on said table but isreoriented 90° from its initial position; a bale transfer module forlaterally shifting the reoriented bales across said table so as toaccumulate the bales into a parcel thereof; and said bale transfermodule and bale turning module being independently attachable to anddetachable from said base module.
 2. An accumulator according to claim1, further comprising a bale dumping module for dumping the parcel ofbales accumulated on said table, and said bale dumping module beingattachable to and detachable from said base module independently of saidbale transfer and bale turning modules.
 3. An accumulator according toclaim 2, further comprising an extension module for extending the widthof said table, said extension module being attachable to and detachablefrom said base module independently of said bale transfer and baleturning modules.
 4. An accumulator according to claim 3, wherein saidbase module is attachable adjacent a forward end thereof to anagricultural baler to receive bales from a bale chamber of said baleralong one side of said table.
 5. An accumulator according to claim 4,wherein said bale transfer and bale turning modules are attached to saidbase module adjacent said one side of said table.
 6. An accumulatoraccording to claim 5, wherein said extension module is attached to saidbase module adjacent the other side of said table.
 7. An accumulatoraccording to claim 6, wherein said bale dumping module is attached tosaid base and extension modules adjacent a rearward end of said basemodule to dump said parcel of bales accumulated on said table.
 8. Anaccumulator according to claim 1, wherein said base module is attachedadjacent a forward end thereof to an agricultural baler to receive balesfrom a bale chamber of said baler along one side of said table, andwherein said bale transfer and bale turning modules are attached to saidbase module adjacent said one side of said table.
 9. An accumulatoraccording to claim 8, further comprising a bale dumping module fordumping the parcel of bales accumulated on said table, and said baledumping module being attached to said base module independently of saidbale transfer and bale turning modules adjacent a rearward end of saidbase module.
 10. An accumulator according to claim 9, further comprisingan extension module for extending the width dimension of said table, andsaid extension module being attached to said base module independentlyof said bale transfer and bale turning modules adjacent the other sideof said table.
 11. An accumulator according to claim 10, wherein theparcel of bales accumulated on said table consists of more bales whensaid extension module is attached to said base module and fewer baleswhen said extension module is detached from said base module.
 12. Anaccumulator according to claim 10, wherein said extension module ispivotally connected to said bale module so that said extension modulemay be moved to a transport position without extending the widthdimension of said table.